The Golden Touch by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Short summary

5 seconds

The story of King Midas, who wishes to turn everything he touches into gold, In the morning his wish is granted, and he begins to turn everything into gold, and even his daughter.

1 minute

King Midas is obsessed with gold to the point that everything in his life is either gold or named after him. His dog is a golden retriever, his cat is named Goldilocks, and his daughter is named Marigold. When the king has an amazing power, he is told that it will begin with the dawn of the next day. He wakes up early and is disappointed that the power has not yet manifested. Once it does, however, he spends most of the morning turning his property into gold.

King Midas’s love of gold is so strong that when he is granted the power, he uses it recklessly, even trying to eat food that turns to molten gold when touched with his tongue. But when Marigold turns into a golden statue, he realizes what a fool he has done and prays for forgiveness. The king is given the power to take it all back, and he no longer wishes to see the gold.